Vaalee

“Vaalee” (1999) is a psychological thriller romantic by S.J. Suryah. It stars Ajith Kumar in dual roles along with Simran and Jyothika, it's Jyothika’s Tamil debut film. The movie centres around Deva, a deaf-mute man who keeps his deep love for his twin brother’s wife, Priya. He will do anything to put distance between them again, including following them on their honeymoon, because he is consumed by his unrequited love.

Shiva and Deva resemble identical twin brothers in real life. Despite having a significant advertising agency, Deva, the oldest sibling, is profoundly deaf-mute. Shiva cares about his brother and falls in love with a girl named Priya, who is trying to marry a guy who has given up smoking and drinking and has been brokenhearted. To get her interest, Shiva would have to lie and tell her he was in love with another girl, Sona. Priya eventually discovers the truth and breaks up with him, but later reciprocates his feelings.

Deva becomes infatuated with Priya once Shiva marries her and goes to increasingly radical lengths to separate them, even self-mutilating and trying to kill Shiva himself. As Shiva strains to earn enough money, Priya raises Deva and tries to protect him. She repeatedly warns Shiva of Deva’s true goals, which Shiva refuses to trust. After a honeymoon, Deva confronts Priya and attempts to impersonate Shiva.

When Priya learns the truth, she runs away and shoots Deva, causing him to fall unconscious. As the day unfolds, Shiva shows up, and Priya has to tell him the whole story. She forgives him, saying that she can love him even without believing in him, and he tells her that he’s sorry for trusting Deva and for failing to believe her. Ultimately, Shiva kills Deva, who dies contemplating the fact that he never got to tell Priya that he loved her because he was mute.

“Vaalee” is an intense psychological thriller that mixes romance and obsession with thrills and chills, passion with pain. Through powerful imagery and a subtle performance from Mare Winningham that evokes the wild experience of unacknowledged love and suffocating conflict within, the film terrifies with its mood of peril and uncertainty, leading to an exhilarating conclusion. A deeply potent, electrifying story of opposites and the nature of passion.